Western Stronghearts
by MWolfL
Summary: Braeburn and Little Strongheart have become the ambassadors of their people, causing them to become friends. But soon, a new feeling arises in them, one that causes Braeburn to go through a series of tests. BraeburnXLittle Strongheart
1. Ambassador Love

It was about a month after Spike and the ponies got back with the dragonsnap for Celestia's cure. However, this story is not going to take place in Ponyville. Instead, it's going to take place in Appleloosa.

Ever since the buffalo and Braeburn's clan made that peace treaty lives for both sides had gotten a lot better. Due to his love of peace and for not participating in the battle, Braeburn was made an ambassador to the buffalo for his clan. He was the only pony who was allowed into the buffalo tribe without any trouble. Little Strongheart, for not participating in the battle either (she only went along to keep an eye on her dad, the chief), was made an ambassador to Appleloosa for her tribe. She was the only buffalo who could go into town without suspicious looks.

Due to this, Little Strongheart and Braeburn saw a lot of each other and became great friends. Braeburn, though he didn't show it much, was one of the fastest land ponies ever. Even though he didn't come close to Little Strongheart's speed he got closer than any other Earth pony ever could, which impressed her and led them to having many races. By the time the month after Celestia's recovery arrived, Braeburn realized that he enjoyed hanging out with Little Strongheart even more than he enjoyed hanging out with the rest of his clan...including the females. Then, one morning, he saw Little Strongheart walk into town and she seemed to glow. That's when Braeburn realized that he had developed feelings for her.

"Hi Braeburn." Little Strongheart smiled.

Braeburn was still frozen, but recovered quickly.

"Hi, what brings you here today?" He asked.

Not quickly enough.

"Are you okay?" Little Strongheart asked. "You seemed shocked about something earlier."

"Oh...I...uh...it was nothing." Braeburn lied, nervously glancing to his right.

Little Strongheart followed his glance and saw some settler mares standing there giggling and smiling at Braeburn. Little Strongheart realized that whatever it was Braeburn wasn't going to tell her with them there so she decided to drop the matter for now.

"Never mind." Little Strongheart went back to smiling. "I came here today because I heard something about a square dance during my last visit and wanted to know more about it."

"Oh." Braeburn relaxed. "A square dance is a special dance we do when we celebrate something. Most of the moves are done in a square or rectangle pattern, which is why we call it that. This time we're going to celebrate a year of peace with your tribe. Actually, that reminds me, you and your tribe are invited too. Normally we hold the dance in a barn when it's at night but since there wouldn't be enough room we're going to hold it outside this time."

"I see, sounds like fun. I'll ask Chief if at least I can go, he's still a traditionalist so he and the rest of the tribe might not want to come. Is it okay if I don't get the moves right?"

"Of course, no one expects you to know the dance automatically. And I can teach you later, starting tomorrow." Braeburn smiled. "Say, maybe you can teach us some of your traditional dances during the square dance?"

"I'll ask Chief that too, he might agree since he wants you guys to know more about our customs anyway. So, what does one wear to a square dance?"

"Well, you can come as you are or you can wear one of the gingham dresses our mares usually wear to the dance. Your choice."

"I think I'll try one of those gingham dresses."

"Cool, I'll take you to the store so you can pick one out. You have time to decide though, the dance is at the end of this month."

"That gives me plenty of time to practice." Little Strongheart chuckled.

They went into the store and Little Strongheart studied the dresses. Since they were made for ponies they didn't fit her perfectly, but the store owner said that he would make the necessary adjustments. Little Strongheart ended up picking out a pumpkin colored one. Since she didn't want to take it back to the tribe, Braeburn offered to keep it for her and she agreed.

"Listen, if your dad allows you to come would you like to go to the dance with me?" Braeburn blushed a little.

"I'd love to." Little Strongheart, to her surprise, blushed back; that was when she realized that she had fallen in love with him.

When they left the store, Little Strongheart decided to leave town earlier than usual to ask her dad for permission. When she had gone, the mares Bareburn saw earlier came up to him. The head of the group Braeburn recognized as Dolly Sue, Sheriff Silverstar's sister. Dolly made toys for the fillies and colts, and was pale pink with red-orange hair. Her cutie mark was a doll and a marble.

"Braeburn, I was wondering if you would like to go to the dance with me?" Dolly asked.

"Sorry Dolly, but I'm already planning to go with Little Strongheart." Braeburn shook his head before starting to leave. "I have to go, see you later."

Dolly Sue was crushed.

Braeburn headed home and hung up Little Strongheart's dress in his closet. He then started thinking about his new feelings for Little Strongheart. Of course there were problems with it, namely how his clan and Little Strongheart's tribe would react to it. With his clan he figured that if they didn't accept it he would just move in with Little Strongehart's tribe, which is probably what would happen anyway if they ended up together. Little Strongheart after all was next in line to lead the tribe. As for Little Strongheart's tribe, especially Chief Thunderhooves, well...here's where Braeburn got a little scared. Buffalo were a lot stronger than ponies for one thing, and of course what with Chief Thunderhooves being Little Strongheart's dad and all...he was sure to be very protective of her.

Braeburn wasn't sure what to do, but one thing he did know was that he couldn't keep his feelings a secret. He decided to tell Little Strongheart the truth privately during the dance. The results could go one of a few ways. For one thing, if Chief Thunderhooves came to the dance too he could overhear him telling Little Strongheart his feelings. For another thing, Chief Thunderhooves might not go to the dance and so wouldn't hear about Braburn's feelings until Little Strongheart worked up the courage to tell him herself. But, no matter how Chief Thunderhooves heard, the main thing was how he was going to react.

Meanwhile, on the way back to the tribe Little Strongheart was having some thoughts of her own. They were pretty similar to Braeburn's, with a few differences. For example, she worried that if the tribe heard of her feelings for Braeburn they might threaten him or worse. Especially Chief Thunderhooves, he wasn't as protective of her as most dads were in some situations but when it came to guys...that was another story. Then there was Braeburn's clan. Would they handle Braeburn, one of their most important cowponies, leaving the clan to join her tribe? Because if there was one thing she knew, it was that she would never be allowed to leave the tribe. There was no one else to take her place as the next chief.


	2. Dance and Dispute

The next day, Little Strongheart appeared in town again for dance lessons from Braeburn. She went straight over to his house and knocked on the door. He opened it with a smiled.

"Hi, you're just in time I got the music set up." He said, letting her in.

"Great, I'm looking forward to it." Little Strongheart smiled. "Chief said that I can go to the dance, as he wants our peaceful ties with your clan to grow stronger. He's also planning to come too, to observe your style of dance and introduce your clan to our style of dance."

"That's great, I was kinda worried that he wouldn't let you come." Braeburn said, relieved.

He then turned on the music and taught her to square dance. She learned quickly, though still needed plenty of practice. As the days passed she learned more and more, until she became almost as good at it as Braeburn. By the time the day of the dance arrived, she knew she was ready.

That evening, she got ready for the dance. Braeburn was already ready, as stallions didn't need a lot of preparation. Mostly they just wore their best vest and hat, which is exactly what Braeburn did. His vest was decorated with perforated apple shapes, while his hat had a tie around it that ended with an apple-shaped clasp.

When Little Strongheart came downstairs, all ready, Braeburn was amazed. The dress, now fitted to her form, looked amazing on her. It was pumpkin colored, as previously mentioned, and had lace on the collar and the ends of the sleeves.

"You look great." Braeburn smiled.

"You look pretty good yourself." Little Strongheart grinned back.

They headed to the dance. When they arrived Chief Thunderhooves was already there, as was most of Braeburn's clan. Chief Thunderhooves already knew of Little Strongheart going to the dance in a gingham dress, but he was still a little startled when he saw her.

"Greetings Chief Thunderhooves, I am glad that you have decided to come and thank you for allowing Little Strongheart to come as well." Braeburn bowed.

Chief Thunderhooves smiled.

"You are welcome, hopefully this dance will further cement peace between your clan and my tribe." He said.

"I hope so too." Braeburn got back up.

They then entered the dance. Sort of, Chief Thunderhooves stayed off to the side with the Sheriff Silverstar, but Braeburn and Little Strongheart joined the dance. Most of the ponies stared, as they didn't know about Braeburn teaching Little Strongheart how to square dance and so thought that she was being very brave. Braeburn and Little Strongheart began to dance with the other ponies, and Little Strongheart surprised the clan with how well she danced. Braeburn and Little Strongheart became permanent partners for the square dance, and had a lot of fun. Dolly Sue was jealous.

When Braeburn and Little Strongheart took a break to catch their breath, Braeburn decided to get some punch. Dolly Sue took that opportunity to confront Little Strongheart.

"You have been hogging him for quite some time." She said to Little Strongheart.

"Oh, did you want to dance with him?" Little Strongheart realized apologetically. "Sorry, I didn't know. And it wasn't my idea, Braeburn wanted to keep dancing with me himself."

"Oh please, why would he pick a savage buffalo over one of his own?" Dolly Sue said skeptically.

Little Strongheart was hurt.

"I am surprised that you would consider me savage since I never participated in that battle. As a matter of fact I was against it from the start." Little Strongheart replied cooly.

"Still, you live in portable homes, you don't raise your own food, how can you possibly live that way?"

"We live off the land, respecting and honoring it."

"Respecting? Honoring? The land isn't even alive!"

A few ponies started to notice the confrontation, including Sheriff Silverstar. Sheriff Silverstar wasn't sure what to do, he was protective of his sister but it looked like his sister was being the mean one.

"The land is too alive. Everything on Earth is alive." Little Strongheart disagreed.

"Except for rocks and dirt." Dolly Sue scoffed.

"Hey! Get away from her!"

It was Braeburn, who had come back with punch and was looking livid. He went over to the two girls and got in between them, glaring at Dolly Sue. He then set the punch glasses down.

"You cannot judge someone by their species or their culture!" Braeburn scolded. "Little Strongheart here happens to be one of the nicest creatures I had ever known. You, on the other hoof, are a different story!"

Dolly Sue looked closed to tears.

"I'm sorry Dolly Sue, but until you accept my friendship with Little Strongheart I cannot be your friend." Braeburn said, calmer now.

Dolly Sue, defeated, walked away with her head down. Chief Thunderhooves and Sheriff Silverstar showed up.

"Sorry Sheriff Silverstar, for talking to your sister that way." Braeburn quickly said.

"No, it's okay, Dolly Sue always was the finicky one." Sheriff Silverstar smiled. "You two continue enjoying the dance, I'll have a talk with her."

He left, but Chief Thunderhooves stayed.

"Thank you for defending my daughter." He smiled.

"Anything for a friend." Braeburn smiled back. "Is it okay if Little Strongheart and I go for a quick walk?"

"Of course, if there's one pony I trust it's you."

"Thank you sir."

"Thanks Chief." Little Strongheart grinned.

Braeburn and Little Strongheart left. They walked for a bit until they were alone in the desert.

"Little Strongheart, I brought you out here because there is something I need to tell you." Braeburn said, a little nervous.

"What is it?" Little Strongheart looked at him.

"I...I love you."

Little Strongheart smiled.

"I love you too." She said.

Braeburn at first thought they were going to kiss, but then noticed that Little Strongheart hesitated.

"Have to talk to your dad huh?" Braeburn guessed knowingly.

"Yes, even though he trusts you he may not approve of this." Little Strongheart said regretfully.

"It's okay, I'm not sure if my clan will accept this either." Braeburn smiled comfortingly. "But I do know that, whether my clan accepts it or not, I'll move in with you. After all you are going to be the next chief, so the tribe needs you. And I want to be with you no matter where you are."

Little Strongheart smiled at him gratefully.

"Come to the tribe tomorrow." She said. "I'll have told Chief by then and you can talk to him about it."

Braeburn nodded, and they headed back to the dance. By this time Chief Thunderhooves introduced the ponies to his tribe's dances. Most of the ponies hesitated, but Braeburn joined Little Strongheart in the dances, even though he was a little clumsy at first. After the dance, Chief Thunderhooves and Little Strongheart said their goodbyes.

"This Braeburn is certainly a respectful pony, I was a little surprised when he tried our dances." Chief Thunderhooves said.

"Well since he's one of the ambassadors between our tribe and the ponies he wants to try to learn our culture." Little Strongheart smiled. "Kinda like how I wanted to try the square dance. I'm glad I did, I had fun."

"I kinda had fun myself." Chief Thunderhooves smiled back.

"Yeah, over by the buffet." Little Strongheart giggled.

Chief Thunderhooves gave a snort of annoyance, but then smirked at her, amused.

"Chief? There's something I need to tell you." Little Strongheart became serious.

"What is it?"

"Braeburn and I have fallen in love."

Chief Thunderhooves looked at her with shock.

"Is this true?" He double-checked.

"Yes, that's why he wanted to take that walk with me earlier, to admit his feelings. I'm glad he did, I would have rather told him my feelings privately, and he most likely felt the same way."

Chief Thunderhooves became silent, lost in thought. Little Strongheart knew that there was no use in talking to him during those moments, so she patiently waited for him to finish thinking.

"Well, even though a pony and a buffalo are an unusual pair they aren't forbidden anymore. And Braeburn did seem willing to learn our culture..." Chief Thunderhooves thought out loud before turning to little Strongheart. "I'll make you a deal, I'll set up a series of tests for him to see if he can handle living with us as well as respect our culture. If he wins, I'll allow you two to be together. If he loses, then both of you must find someone else. Since you are both ambassadors between our tribe and the ponies I won't forbid you from continuing to see him if he loses, but you two must only be friends. No romantic actions."

"Thanks Chief." Little Strongheart smiled. "I told him to come to the tribe tomorrow, to talk to you."

"I might need a little more time than a night to come up with most of the tests...but the first test can be his living with us, to see if he can handle our lifestyle."

"Sounds fair."

They reached the tribe by this point. All the buffalo, except for the lookout, were asleep by this point. Chief Tunderhooves and Little Strongheart went into their teepees and also fell asleep.


	3. Transfer to Another Culture

The next day, Braeburn packed some water, a few apples, and an apple pie, and set out for the buffalo tribe. He didn't wear his vest, but he did wear his hat. Before he left he ran into Sheriff Silverstar.

"Where are you going Braeburn?" Sheriff Silverstar asked.

"To the buffalo tribe. I might be gone for a long time so don't wait up for me." Braeburn said.

"Why so long?"

Dolly Sue and her friends were nearby, and so overheard.

"I've got a feeling that I'll be living with the buffalo for a while, to see if I can handle their lifestyle."

"Now why would you worry about that?"

Braeburn looked around. Apart from Dolly Sue and her friends there wasn't really anypony who could overhear so Braeburn whispered the reason to Sheriff Silverstar. Sheriff Silverstar's eyes widened.

"But you must keep it a secret for now, even from your sister." Braeburn added, no longer whispering.

"Of course, while this is unusual I am proud of you for being brave and honest about it." Sheriff Silverstar nodded.

"Well, honesty runs in my family." Braeburn tipped his hat. "I'll be moseying along now."

"Good-bye Braeburn, and good luck." Sheriff Silverstar waved.

Dolly Sue walked up to Sheriff Silverstar.

"What was that about?" She asked.

"Sorry Dolly, but I promised Braeburn not to tell anypony, not even you." Sheriff Silverstar walked away.

Dolly wasn't going to give up so easily. She decided to follow Braeburn.

Meanwhile, Braeburn, not knowing he was being followed, soon reached the tribe. The rest of the tribe already heard the news of him and Little Strongheart so they watched him walk up to Chief Thunderhooves with surprise instead of their usual polite nods.

"Greetings Chief Thunderhooves, Little Strongheart, I brought you both an apple pie as a token of my good intentions." Braeburn took out his pie and set it down in front of Chief Thunderhooves.

"Thank you Braeburn." Chief Thunderhooves smiled.

"I'd better have the first bite before you eat it all." Little Strongheart joked.

Braeburn bit his lip at first to keep from laughing, but after seeing Chief Thunderhooves's amused nod and hearing the rest of the tribe chuckling he let out a polite chuckle of his own.

Little Strongheart ate a few bites of the pie, and then Chief Thunderhooves ate the rest.

"Delicious." Chief Thunderhooves licked his lips when he was done. "Now, Braeburn, my daughter has informed me that the two of you have fallen in love, is this true?"

Dolly Sue gasped to herself, and then glared at the scene with jealousy.

"Yes Chief, it's true." Braeburn stood up tall. "I have fallen in love with Little Strongheart, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to win your approval."

"Well you don't have much to worry about now." Chief Thunderhooves said. "While I'm coming up with the rest of the tests you are merely going to live with us, to see how you will handle our customs. First of all, you are going to have to ditch your hat for now."

Braeburn put his hat in his pack without a word. Chief Thunderhooves smiled approvingly.

"Since I smell some apples in that pack I will allow you to keep it until the apples are gone. Afterward, you must hang it on one of the cacti and leave it there. The tribe will help you make your own teepee to live in."

"Thank you." Braeburn bowed respectfully.

Dolly Sue headed home, thinking about how she was going to ruin Braeburn's chances with Little Strongheart. After all, she wanted Braeburn for herself.

Braeburn and the tribe got to work on his new teepee. It was plain, except for the images of apples lining the bottom, and was located a little far away from the other teepees. Braeburn then waited for further instructions, which turned out to be helping them gather their main food: camas roots. He worked hard, and gathered many roots for them. He then was allowed to try a root, and ended up liking it. Later he tried their camas roots cakes, which he liked even better.

As Chief Thunderhooves thought up more tests, Braeburn proved himself in the ways of their culture. He did all the buffalo told him to do without complaining, and sometimes even enjoyed himself. Some of the food he had to get used to, but he willingly ate until he was too full to eat anything more. Chief Thunderhooves declared that he passed the first test.


	4. A Speedy Test

Then the second test came: to join them in a race. Braeburn would have to keep from ending up last in order to pass the test. Dolly Sue was still spying on him now and then, and when she heard about this next test she got an idea: keep him awake the night before so he would be too tired to race.

The night before the race she captured a mosquito and let it loose in Braeburn's teepee. He woke up and remained awake for about half-an-hour trying to swat it, and finally succeeded. Dolly Sue then set an alarm clock near his teepee. The ticking only slightly annoyed him, but then it went off after ten minutes... That woke up the tribe as well as Braeburn. Dolly Sue quickly made a run for it.

"What was that?" A buffalo protested.

"*Oog*, sounded like an alarm clock." Braeburn yawned. "Ponies use it to wake up when they don't have a rooster handy. But who would set one up all the way out here?"

"Beats me, but it looks like someone wants you to stay awake." Little Strongheart noticed how tired he look.

"If that's true then that mosquito that was in my teepee didn't fly in there on it's own."

"Mosquito?" Chief Thunderhooves repeated, a little worried. "There hasn't been a mosquito near the tribe for years, our quick swatting scared them off a long time ago. I think you'd better sleep in my tent, just in case."

"Nah, I think waking the rest of you up drove off this prankster." Braeburn shook his head. "I'll be fine."

"If you're sure." Little Strongheart looked concerned.

"Hey, don't worry about me." Braeburn smiled affectionately.

"In that case, let's all get back to bed." Chief Thunderhooves ordered.

Everyone did. Braeburn had a little trouble falling back asleep though. He thought that Sheriff Silverstar was the only one who knew why he was here. Then he remembered that Dolly Sue was nearby when he last talked to Sheriff Silverstar. Now, Sheriff Silverstar was one of the best ponies when it came to keeping secrets, but it was possible that Dolly Sue followed him out here and found out everything. Then Braeburn realized the reason for her past actions: she had developed a crush on him! Of course, she was trying to keep him awake so that he would lose tomorrow! Well, he was going to prove to her as well as the buffalo that nothing will stop him from ending up with Little Strongheart. He knew that he couldn't have fallen in love with someone of a different species without a good reason.

The next morning Braeburn was tired, but raring to race. Little Strongheart and Chief Thunderhooves were the only ones not racing. Little Strongheart was to signal the start of the race and then follow behind to keep an eye on things. Chief Thunderhooves was to wait for the winner and to see if Braeburn could keep up well enough to pass.

The race begun, and Braeburn had never been more determined. The race started out basically even, with Braeburn near the end but not at the end. As the race continued however, he started to grow more tired, but kept pushing on. At one point he tripped, and collapsed on the ground. Little Strongheart wasn't allowed to offer physical support to any of the racers, so she just stuck with verbal support.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm just really tired." Braeburn managed to get up, but only into a sitting position.

"Listen, if you're too tired to continue it's okay..."

"No. There is a reason why we fell in love, and I believe it's a good reason." Braeburn this time managed to stand. "I'm not giving up."

He started running again, Little Strongheart watching him proudly. Even though he was still tired, he continued, forcing himself to catch up with the tribe. He managed too catch up, and even managed to reach second-to-last place by the time they all reached the finish line. This was good enough for Chief Thunderhooves, so he declared that Braeburn had passed the second test. Braeburn smiled, and then fainted, exhausted.

"Is he okay?" Chief Thunderhooves asked Little Strongheart.

"I think so, he's just exhausted." Little Strongheart gently lifted Braeburn's muzzle up with a hoof; he didn't stir, but he was still breathing. "He forced himself to continue running despite being so tired." She smiled at Braeburn fondly.

Chief Thunderhooves couldn't help but be impressed.

"Put him in his teepee, he'll need all the rest he can get for the next test."

"What is the next test?" Little Strongheart asked.

"Testing his strength."

Braeburn ended up sleeping through the day and following night. When he woke up the next morning he felt like his old self and was ready for the next test. When he heard that it was to test his strength however, he grew nervous. No pony had ever been as strong as a buffalo before.


	5. Braeburn's Strongheart

The test was done similar to sumo wrestling, except for the appearance of the wrestlers. Basically, Braeburn had to stay in the circle for an hour, while wrestling the tribe's strongest warrior Rockburl. Braeburn trained by doing pushups and lifting slightly heavy rocks. Little Strongheart walked up to him.

"I hope you'll be okay, Rockburl can sometimes even beat Chief in a match." She said, concerned.

"I just hope I can stay in the ring the full hour." Braeburn set down the rock he was lifting.

"All that training you've been doing might help." Little Strongheart looked impressed at the size of the rock he just set down.

"Well if I'm going to lose, it's not going to be without a good fight." Braeburn smiled. "But I'm sure I'll win. I doubt anything is stronger than my love for you so I'll use that strength."

Little Strongheart hugged him, surprising him a little. He recovered, and hugged her back.

Unfortunately, Dolly Sue heard of Braeburn's success with the race and about the next test through more spying, and so came up with another idea.

As the match begun, Braeburn and Rockburl both entered the ring. The buffalo used to tell time by just the sun, but after the peace between them and the Appleloosians they ended up needing a more specific way of telling time. So, they adopted the method of using sundials. When the sundial showed the start of the hour Chief Thunderhooves signaled for the match to begin.

Rockburl, not wanting to hurt Braeburn accidentally, was more gentle than usual during the match, but still a formidable opponent. Braeburn struggled to stay in the ring, and it was quite a struggle. Fortunately, dodging was allowed during the match so whenever Braeburn noticed himself nearing the edge of the ring he leapt past Rockburl to the other side. By using this method Braeburn was able to stay in the ring for fifty-five minutes. Then, the final part of the match. Braeburn and Rockburl both had to push against each other without any dodging. Braeburn dug his hooves in, trying to stay in the ring for the last five minutes. But then, during the last minute, something ended up under his foot and caused him to trip! When Braeburn recovered and got up, he saw to his horror that he landed outside the ring...and there were twenty-seconds left on the sundial. Both his and Little Strongheart's eyes started to fill with tears, but then a buffalo noticed something.

"What is that?" He asked.

Everyone looked, and saw a colorful round rock. Or was it...?

"That is a strange looking rock." Another buffalo remarked.

Braeburn started to become angry.

"That's no rock that's a marble! A toy colts like to play with!" He said, furious; he then turned to a nearby boulder. "Dolly Sue, you come out from behind there right now!"

Dolly Sue, caught, embarrassedly came out into the open. The buffalos gasped as they realized that she rolled that marble there for Braeburn to trip on so that he would lose. They then realized that she was the one who tried to keep Braeburn awake before the second test.

"What's the big idea?" Little Strongheart said, angrily pawing the ground with a hoof.

"I wanted Braeburn for myself! You don't even deserve him!" Dolly Sue retorted, glaring at Little Strongheart.

Little Strongheart glared back, and the rest of the buffalo started to back away as they realized that Dolly Sue and Little Strongheart were about to fight. They charged at each other, but since female buffalo weren't as strong as male buffalo Dolly Sue was able to knock her down. Braeburn and the buffalo looked at this with shock. Dolly Sue then charged again, but instead of crashing into Little Strongheart she crashed into Braeburn! Braeburn had sacrificed himself to save Little Strongheart by stepping in between her and Dolly Sue. Everyone watched with big-time shock as Braeburn slightly sailed through the air and landed unconscious on the ground. Dolly Sue froze while Little Strongheart rushed to Braeburn.

"Braeburn?" She said worriedly.

Braeburn winced and struggled to wake up.

"Are you okay?" He asked weakly.

"Thanks to you." Little Strongheart smiled slightly.

The buffalo angrily advanced on Dolly Sue. Suddenly frightened, she ran away.

"Let her brother, Sheriff Silverstar, deal with her. I'll tell him what she did later." Braeburn said, struggling to get up. "We don't need another conflict."


	6. Love Wins the Tests

Chief Thunderhooves smiled.

"Well, since this Dolly Sue cheated by making you lose early I say that your trip will not be counted. You have passed the third test."

Braeburn and Little Strongheart both let out sighs of relief.

"And, even more, you had sacrificed yourself to save Little Strongheart from great injury, proving your love for her to be too strong to be stopped." Chief Thunderhooves continued. "There will be no more tests, I accept your relationship."

The buffalo cheered and Braeburn and Little Strongheart finally kissed. A glow seemed to come from them, though only Chief Thunderhooves noticed. Braeburn and Little Strongheart only concentrated on the kiss, while the rest of the buffalo were too busy cheering. Chief Thunderhooves realized that Braeburn and Little Strongheart had fallen in love because even though their species weren't the same their personalities complimented each other, meaning that they were true loves. Plus, what better way to ensure peace between the clan and tribe than for a buffalo and pony to marry?

Yes, Braeburn and Little Strongheart did get married, but that didn't happen right away. First, Braeburn had to tell his clan the truth about why he left. His clan was shocked, but impressed at what he did to prove himself to the tribe. They, for the most part, accepted it. Sheriff Silverstar was told of Dolly Sue's cheating, and scolded her for it. He told her that sometimes the one you want isn't the one you should end up with, and that she should just accept it and move on. Dolly Sue didn't accept it right away, she brooded about it for a long time, but eventually ended up with somepony else.

Then, Braeburn wrote to Applejack about his relationship with Little Strongheart and that, if she was okay with it, she and her friends were welcome to the wedding. He was worried about how she'd take it, but he didn't need too. Ever since Spike and Rarity ended up together Applejack became more open-minded about certain things, and happily accepted the wedding invitation.

The mane cast and Spike arrived in Appleloosa, where Spike and Rarity surprised everyone by revealing their love for each other. The buffalo ended up respecting Rarity greatly, since they highly respected dragons like Spike. Rainbow Dash and Little Strongheart greeted each other fondly, and decided to keep in touch more often. It turned out that the buffalo also highly respected Rainbow Dash. This was not only because of her trying to help them during the conflict, but also because of her association with the sky through her color and her ability to fly.

Spike and all ponies who were okay with Braeburn and Little Strongheart's relationship came to the wedding, which was held at the tribe's home. Braeburn not only became Little Strongheart's husband, but also an honorary buffalo. He was to later rule the tribe alongside Little Strongheart, and their rule would ensure permanent peace between the buffalo and the Appleloosians.

Later, Braeburn and Little Strongheart had a daughter. She looked like her mother, but had her father's mane colors. She was named Ariane Aquene

A.N. Ariane is a French type of apple. Aquene is Native American for peace.


End file.
